Ruwenzori Mountains National Park is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Ruwenzori Mountains of Uganda. It includes approximately 1,000 square kilometres of land. Within that land are numerous waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, and some impressive mountain peaks, the highest being Mount Stanley. The second highest peak in this range is Mount Speke.
The mountains run along the border of the Congo (DRC) for about 120km and the snow capped peaks are the source of the legendary 'Mountains of the Moon' and also by some geographers claimed as the source of the Nile river ... though this claim seems to belong to several locations in East Africa!
The mountain range was first explored by Europeans in 1906 when all major peaks were conquered. The Rwenzoris are the highest mountain range in Africa. The two peaks of Mount Stanley (Margherita and Alexandra) reach heights of 5109m and 5083m and unsual in that they are part of a mountain range of non-volcanic origin, unlike the higher peaks of Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro which rise directly from the Rift Valley floor.
The Rwenzoris are mainly known for challenging hiking and climbing trails but support a wide range of wildlife too with 70 mammal species including Colobus monkeys, elephants (in the forest areas), golden cat, genet, chimpanzee, giant forest hog. The forest zone is also home to a huge variety of birdlife (over 170 species) including a few local endemics.
The floral variety is amzaing with clear vegetation zones changing as you rise in altitude. From the forest zone at the base the bamboo forest takes over at about 2500m then higher at 3000 - 4500m the open heather and alpine zone offers hundreds of species including forests of heather and huge giant lobelias which can reach 10m in height.
